


Prom

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: Friends Make Life A Lot More Fun [9]
Category: Rent - Larson
Genre: First Kiss, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, High School, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 11:29:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9383069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: Prom night is supposed to be the best night of your high school career. For Maureen it certainly doesn't start that way, but for Mark it ends that way.June 1987





	

“Mark! Maureen’s on the phone!”

Mark looked up from his work, why was Maureen calling him the day of prom? Wasn’t she busy spending all day getting ready?

“Mark!” His mother called out to him again.

Mark got up from his desk and walked down the stairs to where his mother stood holding the phone.

“She sounds very upset,” his mother sighed as she passed him the phone.

When Mark put it up to his ear he could practically hear how distraught that she was, “Maureen?”

“Marky!” Maureen replied, “oh thank god you’re here-”

 

“What’s wrong?” Mark asked.

“Scott dumped me, he’s such a bastard!” Maureen explained, “he’s going to prom with Evelyn Dryer…” it was clear that she was pissed.

“Wait, he dumped you the day of prom?” Mark was shocked.

“I told you he was a bastard,” Maureen grumbled.

“Funny just yesterday you were telling me how great Scotty is-”

“Shut up!” Maureen silenced him, “I don’t want to hear it.”

“So what are you going to do?” Mark asked, “Why did you call me?”

Maureen sighed, “Well… I was wondering if you would go to prom with me?”

Mark paused, she wanted to go to prom with him? 

“Mark?”

“Why didn’t you call Roger?” Mark asked.

"He's in the City making his fame," Maureen replied and Mark could almost hear the eye roll, "I can't bother him, but Mark please."

"I can't Mo, I have work to do," Mark sighed, "even if I didn't it's not like I have a tux lying around."

"Don't worry about the tux, Marky, I can deal with that," her voice turned pleading, "Please. If I spend the night moping around, then Scott wins! I can't let that bastard win, Marky."

Damn it, there was no way Mark could deny her... Not when she was acting like this, "Fine..."

"Marky!" Maureen squealed happily, "You're the best! Pick me up at five. The limo rental was under Scott's name, so he's taking it."

"What about the tux?"

Maureen had already hung up and Mark sighed.

That girl was going to be the death of him. The reality of the situation started to hit him and Mark felt a grin start to unfurl. He was going to prom with Maureen! He'd long had a crush on her, even before she'd gotten out of the "ugly duckling phase" that she'd dubbed her middle school years. Sure she was using him to get back at her ex-boyfriend, but in a way Mark didn't care. Half of him wished that he had a phone number for Roger, but the other more rational half decided that he was glad he didn't because he knew he would get teased mercilessly. Roger had been trying to get him to admit his crush on Maureen for some time.

"Is everything alright, Moshe?"

Mark jumped slightly and smiled at his mother as he placed the phone back in its cradle, "It's fine. Great, even. You know I think I'll actually go to prom with Maureen," he nodded his head.

Mrs. Cohen smiled, "Honey, that's great."

She'd been pushing him to go ever since she had found out that he wasn't going.

"You can wear your nice black slacks and suit coat, oh your father has white shirt you can borrow!" Mrs. Cohen was in full planning mode, "And you'll need a tie, of course, you have plenty of ties. What color is Maureen wearing?"

"What color?" Mark was confused, "she didn't say..."

"Oh," Mrs. Cohen scoffed, "give me that phone."

She dialled quickly, but Mark was able to pick up on the fact that she was called Maureen's house.

"Nancy? Hi it's Rachel, Mark's mother. Yes, he just told me that they're going together after all!"

Mark groaned and hid his face in his hands. Why did his mother do this to him? At least Cindy wasn't home to see this.

"Red? How lovely! I'm sure that Marky has a red tie around here somewhere."

Seeing that he was going to have no say in the matter, Mark left them to it.

Mark had borrowed his mother's car to drive over to Maureen's house and now he was waiting for her to make her entrance. Which meant that he was stuck, in the living room with her parents in a rather uncomfortable silence.

It wasn't like it was their first time meeting him, but they'd always seemed to be unusually shy around the Cohens. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were a mixed marriage, Jewish mother and Christian father. Maybe Mark was too Jewish. Or maybe he was just being over critical.

"So Mark," Nancy spoke first, "how are you?"

"Umm... Good?" Mark shrugged his shoulders, thankful that someone had broken the silence but the awkwardness refused to dissipate.

"Great," she seemed to be struggling with what to say next and turned to her husband for help.

"So, where are you going to college?"

"Uhh... Haven't thought about that," Mark replied, he hadn't told anyone other than Roger and Maureen that he wasn't actually planning to go to college.

"It's almost the end of the year, you know," Nancy continued, "Maureen got into NYU. Isn't that right, dear?"

Mr Johnson grunted in response, eyeing Mark critically.

"Mother stop boring Marky!" Maureen's voice rang from the stairs as she descended.

"It's called making conversation, sweetheart," Nancy called back, "Oh my, look at you!"

Mark had to stop his jaw from literally dropping, when he heard that her dress was red but he didn’t realize just how red… Well how red it could be. It was like she’d taken it right from Marilyn Monroe’s closet.

Not only was it red, it was tight, like every other piece of clothing Maureen wore. It was low cut enough to show off, but not so low that it was be considered skanky, and it hugged her legs until just below her knees before flaring out into some glorious ruffles.

 

"Wow..." Was the only word Mark was able to get out of his mouth.

"Thanks Marky!" Maureen grinned as she walked towards him her hips swaying with every step, "I'll take that as a compliment!"

"You look wonderful, sweetheart," Nancy crooned, giving her husband a look, "Doesn't she, Eddie?"

There was another grunt of response, Eddie's eyes still shrewdly on Mark. He nervously revealed the corsage his mother had bought. It was very simple, a single white rose with its stem wrapped in red ribbon. Roger had warned him about the difficulties of pinning on corsages without seeming like you were giving your date a grope, Mark had even tried to beg his mother to get a wrist corsage instead, but he managed to pin it on without any issue.

“Aww…” Maureen grinned, “you are too sweet,” she then looped her arm through his, and Mark began to blush, “well we should go so that we are fashionably late!” She practically began to drag him out the door, “Bye Mom! Bye Dad!” she called as she called as she tried to drag Mark out the door.

"Sweetheart, wait!"

Nancy was as forceful as her daughter and managed to wrangle Maureen and Mark into some semblance of a photographic position before snapping several pictures with a polaroid.

Mark felt like he might want to remember this moment more than Maureen, but he remained silent, smiling indulgently for the photos even though he knew that the light in that room would make both of them look washed out.

"Yes, alright," Nancy conceded, "Have fun you two!"

"I want her home by eleven," Eddie said in Mark's direction.

"Daddy," Maureen pouted, "the dance doesn't end until midnight."

"Fine," Eddie grumbled, even as he smiled adoringly at his daughter, "One AM, no later."

"Yes, sir," Mark replied, even as Maureen was dragging him out the door.

The two of them walked out to Mark's Mom's car that he was borrowing for the night, "I know it's no limo..." Mark sighed as they approached the Cohen family station wagon.

"Come on Mark," Maureen laughed, "we've been friends for too long, you don't need to try and impress be, besides we're just going as friends!"

Mark felt his heart sink a little, "Right, friends."

There was a moment of silence as they got into the car until he put the key in the ignition.

"Mark..." Maureen finally spoke up sounding serious for a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I really want to thank you for doing this," she smiled, “I mean, I was feeling like shit, you know?" she continued, "But I really didn't want to spend the night sulking in my pajamas and eating an entire carton of Neapolitan ice cream."

"Even if you wanted to do that," Mark replied, "I'd have joined you if you asked. But only if you let me have all of the strawberry out of that Neapolitan."

Maureen laughed.  
"We'll show Scott what he's missing and we'll have a better time than him and who is he going with?" Mark asked.

"Evelyn Dryer," Maureen rolled her eyes.

"Really?" Mark knit his brow together.

"He says he likes her rustic charm," Maureen quoted, complete with finger quotes that Mark could see out of the corner of his eye.

"Doesn't she have a unibrow?"  
"It's not that bad..." Maureen was trying to be nice and was clearly struggling.

"Momo you don't have to be nice-"

"Then I won't!" She declared, "yes she does! She does have a fucking unibrow!"

Mark snorted, "There's the MoMo I know. No sulking tonight, got it?"  
"I think I can manage that," Maureen said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"For once, I approve," Mark shot back with a grin. Usually he was what Roger and Maureen called a buzz kill when it came to ideas that put that look on Maureen's face. But if the two of them were left to their own devices Mark was sure that Scarsdale would be flattened to the ground. Tonight was different, tonight he was going to loosen up and it was going to be great.

If anything, he was a good friend and Maureen needed him right now, so he was going to give her what she needed.

It didn't take them long till they got to Scarsdale High and there were plenty of other students pulling up at the same time. Maureen was practically bouncing up and down in the passenger seat as he pulled his car into the already crowded parking lot. A wave of nervousness then washed over Mark, holy crap he was going to prom with Maureen Johnson… The rest of their class was going to see them, this was unreal. Sure everyone knew that they were friends but this was prom and the highlight of their high school career. He could all of a sudden realize exactly why this had been such a big deal for Maureen.

“Come on Marky!” Maureen called to him, “let’s go!”

Mark took the keys out of the ignition and slowly went to join her as they walked into the school. He had to hand it to the decorating committee, they had done some good work. As they walked past the teachers at the door to the gym he took it all it. It actually seemed like a pleasant place to be as opposed to where he was forced at least once every year to run a mile (and hopefully not collapse). There were tables set up around the edge of the gym with a wide open space in the middle where a dance floor had been set up. A disco ball hung from the middle with its glittering flecks of light bouncing around all across the floor and the people.

“Let’s dance!” Maureen grabbed Mark’s hand and dragged him out to the dance floor, right to the very middle.

“Maureen!” Mark tried to protest, but it fell on deaf ears.

He should have know that there would be no way to stop Maureen from doing what she wanted to do once she had set her mind to it. If Maureen wanted to dance, then Mark had no choice but to comply.

Mark saw immediately why Maureen had dragged him out on the floor so early in the evening. There were many couples and groups dancing, but he could spot Scotty almost immediately.

He should have known, and seeing Scotty with Evelyn he could easily see why she was so upset. 

"What kind of jackass dumps you on prom night..." Maureen glared at Scotty.

Mark held in a sigh. Although he understood how frustrated Maureen was, if she was going to spend the whole evening focusing on Scotty then neither of them was going to have fun.

He would find some way to take her mind off of it, he was certain of it. "Screw him," Mark said with a shrug, "we're going to have way more fun than those two."

Maureen grinned and threw her arms around Mark's neck, "Right you are, Marky!"

This wasn't the closest proximity Mark had been in with Maureen, middle school sleepovers with her and Roger came to mind, but this was a very different kind of situation. Adding to that, Mark had finally admitted to himself that he'd been crushing on Maureen for years. His hands hovered awkwardly, unsure if they should rest on Maureen's waist.

"This is a couples dance," Maureen grinned.

Mark felt his face get red, "I know that" he muttered.

Before his embarrassment could go any further, and he had no doubt that it would by the time the night was done, the music was turned down and the speakers crackled to life with the tires voice of the algebra teacher requesting that everyone have a seat for the meal. The school has really gone all out, getting a fairly nice Italian restaurant in town to cater.

"Where to sit," Maureen muttered as she glanced around.

Mark barely had a chance to do the same when Maureen grabbed his hand and dragged him off in one direction. 

"Amber!" Maureen hollered as she approached a table at the other side of the gym.

"Mo!" Amber replied, "you came, I heard what happened with Scotty-"

"Well fuck him," Maureen replied as she took a seat, "I've got Mark tonight!"

"Oh, hey Mark!" Amber chirped. 

Mark gave her a small smile as he sat. Amber had never spoken to Mark before, despite the fact that they had been in almost all the same classes for the entirety on high school.

"Mo I love your dress!" Amber proceeded to gush, and then they were off chatting about all things related to that along with some of the other girls at the table. 

So Mark found himself in the rather awkwardly silent company of their dates.

One of the guys, a basketball player whom Mark had tutored in English for a semester, gave him a nod of acknowledgement, but other than that they all say sullenly staring down at their plates. Mark felt a sudden pang of loneliness, missing Roger immensely, making a mental note to write a letter as soon as he got home.

He glanced up to see Maureen chatting in her typical animated fashion, making heavy use of her hands for emphasis on whatever she was talking about.

Mark grabbed at piece of bread, although he wasn't sure if he really intended on eating it.

"Yup and Marky saved the day!"

Mark looked up to see Maureen smiling brightly in his direction.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Amber nodded her head.

 

~~~~~

“You know I’m glad you made me come,” Mark grinned as they ducked out of the gym briefly.

Maureen pushed her hair from her face, “I’m glad that you came with me.”

“What are friends for?” Mark nudged her slightly.

“Yep,” Maureen nodded, “friends are great.”

The two of them fell silent for a moment and the only sound that could be heard was the dull thud from the speakers and music echoing in the gym. Mark noticed that they slowly seemed to be moving in towards each other as if by some magnetic force.

"Maureen," he said, voice shaking slightly, "I need to tell you something."

Maureen gave him an encouraging smile, "What is it?"

 

This was it, this was the moment, Mark decided. If he didn't tell her now then it seemed unlikely that he would ever tell her. 

"Do you think we could ever be more than friends?"

When Maureen was silent, he continued in a rush, "You don't have to say yes, you don't even need to answer now. It's just...I've liked you for a while, but I never really had the courage to tell you. You were always going after guys who were the complete opposite of me in every single way, so I figured that was what you wanted. A-and I'm not that kind of guy, I'm not a jock or buff or particularly handsome, I'm just--"

Mark found his next words getting lost in his throat when Maureen leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips.

His body felt like a fireworks display, joy and happiness bubbling up inside him, this was so much better than what he had imagined.

Mark had no idea how much time had passed when they finally broke apart, but he was breathless as Maureen giggled.

"C'mon," she said, taking his hand, "let's go dance."

At that moment, Mark would have done anything Maureen asked.


End file.
